


Out of Reach (Minicat One-Shot)

by Animator2B



Series: Minicat One-Shots [3]
Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 10:57:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animator2B/pseuds/Animator2B
Summary: It was there. What we wanted. We were starting to build it. It wasn't perfect, but we tried. And we were happy.But now its gone. The world died and everything... Everything we wanted and built... Is forever out of our reach.





	Out of Reach (Minicat One-Shot)

                                                                                       

     It was hot. Sweat beaded on my skin as the sun was beating down onto the concrete. I looked over at Tyler to see him breathing heavily and with sweat dripping off his forehead. I wasn't much better. Wheezing as if I had ran a marathon, which actually may not be too far off. Tyler glanced behind us, "Ahh! Those bastards just won't give up!" He harshly whispered. I stole a peek and down the road I could see the mass of bodies heading towards us, "Jesus- I thought we were far enough by now." Both of us slowed to a stop to catch our breath. "We should find somewhere to hide." Tyler stated. Nodding I began to look around. We had ran into the middle of a small town so buildings surrounded us, but few looked stable and those that did wouldn't be good hiding places. Tyler spoke in a low growl, "Of course… Of fucking course." As he noticed the same thing I did. He took a deep breath, "Let's keep moving. There's bound to be something up ahead." We then began to briskly walk down the street, staying away from the dead as we went. Once we got close to the edge of town we spotted a big sign for a motel. Over time it had become decrepit and the painted words dulled. The only thing readable from a good distance was the metallic words that spelled out 'Motel.' And the motel had a protective wall built around it. Bingo. I went back to a full on sprint only to be grabbed by the collar of my shirt, making me gag. "Slow down! We don't know who lives there or if they want visitors." I rubbed my neck, "Ow, you ass." Tyler rolled his eyes before walking closer to the motel, "Just be careful." I huffed and followed closely behind Tyler. Once we were close enough to the wall we could see its flaws. And judging by the amount of overgrowth, no-one had been here for a long time. I looked over at Tyler, "Still think there are people?" He didn't respond, he walked up to the door and attempted to pull it open. The rusted hinges creaked at the force, but refused to move. Even after I joined it move only an inch. Tyler mumbled a curse, "That'll take forever." Turning our attention down the road we could see the mass getting closer. I tapped his shoulder and pointed at a dumpster next to the wall. I ran up to it and began climbing it, only to have one of my feet slip and smack the side of the dumpster.

THUNK!

I winced at the hollow sound and quickly looked around to see if I disturbed anything, staying as still as possible even though all my instincts were telling me to climb. Tyler softly punched me on the shoulder, the silent way of calling me an idiot. I gave him an apologetic look before finishing the climb onto the make shift wall. Whoever built it didn't know what they were doing since this dumpster gave Tyler and I a good place to start our climb up. Once at the top we peered over to see what was on the other side, the gurgling and screaming behind us becoming louder with every second. Tyler let out a groan, "Well that's just great." Dry blood painted the parking lot and the smell of decay was strong. I scrunched up my nose as I counted how many zombies were walking or lying about. "Well it's better than dealing with the horde that's behind us." Tyler grumbled as he glances behind us, "I guess you're right, but I wanted to find a good place that wasn't infested."

"You know we aren't that lucky." I retorted before climbing over the wall. I heard Tyler following me as I slowly climb down. The back side wasn't as easy to climb, but both of us made it down without making too much noise. We did attract the attention of one zombie, though. Its jaw continuously moving up and down as its bone thin frame waddled towards us. Its eyes look as if they would pop out of it's skull at any second and the skin was black with decay and disease. Tyler and I simultaneously put on our health mask before Tyler buried a knife into its forehead, the skull basically crumbling from the strike. I looked to see if we drawn any more attention before pointing at the second floor of the motel. That should be a safe place to hide from the horde for now. Tyler nodded then we swiftly and stealthily made our way through the parking lot and up the stairs, drawing some attention as the stairs creaked and groaned under our weight. But we half ignored them since the zombies were too decayed to quickly catch up. Their legs almost like toothpicks and as frail as glass. The gurgling and screaming was now so loud that I was sure that the horde was on the other side of the wall. Tyler shoved me into the closest room and shut the door behind him. Our guard was up as we listened. Something could be hiding in this room. With slow steps we searched the bedroom area. There were signs that someone did live here once, but no sign of the dead yet. Tyler made his way over to the closet as I went to the bathroom. Knife in hand I knocked on the door and listened. I murmured a curse as I hear a strangled moan on the other side. I signaled to Tyler who had just cleared the closest. I heard him sigh in frustration as he moved closer. I put my hand on the door knob and glanced at Tyler. He nodded and I swung the door opened. Both of us taking a step back as an awful smell blasted out. We gagged and coughed as the air became heavy with death and rot. The moaning was loud and a scraping sound could be heard, but nothing came out. "Must be stuck." Tyler murmured. I nodded before cautiously stepping into the bathroom with my flashlight on and knife at the ready. My eyes were beginning to water at the stench but I pressed on to find this zombie. Once I did, I regretted it. She was hiding between the small gap between the toilet and bathtub. She must've died of starvation since her skin clung to her rib bones and her checks were nonexistent. Her hand was clawing at the toilet in an attempt to get to me, but with how long she must have been sitting there her skin fused with the tile around her. And... On her lap... An infant. Couldn't have be more than a year old when its mother turned and devoured most of it and what was left had a craving for flesh. My flashlight and knife both hit the floor before I ran out of the bathroom sick to my stomach. "Craig?" I pushed past Tyler and ran to the corner of the room furthest from the bathroom. I fell to my knees and took off the mask as my body tried to empty out my already empty stomach. I heard Tyler curse and some shuffling around, but I didn't bother to look back. I let out a shaky breath as his footsteps come closer. He pulled me up and brought me into a hug and I buried my face into his chest. He eventually dragged me to the bed and sat me down, his face covered with concern. He knows what's going through my head. I took out my wallet. Sure when we the world went to shit most things in my wallet became useless, but I keep it so that it can protect one thing. The one thing that's still valuable to me after society collapsed. I pull out the photo, which still looks about as good as it did the day it was printed, and locked my eyes onto it. Tyler moved closer to me to see the picture better. He groaned and ran a finger over the photo, "I... I still can't believe that..." Tyler's sentenced trailed off as both of us stared at the photo. We stayed silent for a few moments before Tyler spoke again, "Craig... What happened to him?" When things really began to turn to the shit hole Tyler and I got separated in the craziness, so he never saw it happen. Once we found each other all I could say was, "He's dead," before weeping in grief. I understand why Tyler wants to know and he deserves to know, but I'm not ready to tell him. Even after all this time it hurts to remember. I shove the photo back into my wallet and put it in my pocket. "Craig-"

"I'm gonna see if the horde is gone." I quickly say before standing up and heading outside. I knew that it wouldn't be, but I wanted to distract myself. There were no zombies that had wandered onto the second floor, so that's a blessing, but I could still hear them down below so I keep my guard up. I put my mask back on before walking to the end of the railing. The second floor wasn't high enough for me to see over the wall, but from what I could still hear the horde on the other side. I sighed and continued to walk down the wooden deck. It groaned with each step I took as I looked at each room door I passed by.

SNAP!

I froze and the floor shifted. "Fuck!" The part of the deck I was standing on collapsed. I shrieked as I fell, the broken boards scrapping my skin as I did. I landed hard on the concrete below and some wooden planks landed on top of me. My head was spinning as pain enveloped my entire body. I could hear Tyler shouting, but my brain was too disoriented to understand what he was saying. I tried to get up, but with each little movement agonizing pain shot through my body. I whimpered as I heard strangled moans getting closer. Looking towards the sound I could see that all of the dead in the parking lot were making their way towards me. Adrenaline shot through my system as I tried to force myself up, grunting in pain as I reached for my knife. "Fuck! Where is it?!" I screamed as I realized I no longer had it. I cried out in pain as I climbed out of the pile of rotting wood. I heard grunting and I looked over to see that Tyler was killing off some of the zombies, trying to make his way over to me. I struggled to my feet and I heard a pounding coming from the make shift wall. The wall was visible shaking from the force on the other side. I screamed, "Tyler! Run!" He killed off another zombie before looking at me, "What?!" I ran towards him, dodging a zombie that was trying to grab me, "RUN!" I could feel my legs trying to give up on me as I ran towards Tyler. He must've noticed the commotion with the wall since he began to lead the way before I even reached him. We made our way to the back of the motel, hoping that there was a way out. There was a chain linked fence in the back that had a huge hole cut out of it. Must've been how this place fell. Before we ran through the hole Tyler got my attention, "Hey, dumbass!" He shoved something into my hand, "Don't forget your knife!" I muttered, “Thanks,” before we went back to running, not caring which direction we went. As long as it got us away from the horde we were happy.

****

   The sun was just about to set when we found a good place to squat for the night. Mini stayed behind to begin patching himself up as I went to get some wood to make a fire. The concrete structure we found would hide the light from all sides so we decided it was safe enough to build a fire. Once I got back and started the fire I began to help Mini with his wounds. Luckily the worst he got from the fall was a sprained leg and a couple nasty cuts. Nothing too serious, but his incessant whining would tell you otherwise. It's kind of funny how when everything seemed to be hitting the fan he was composed and fighting through the pain but then when everything's calm he becomes a big baby... Kind of. I left him to his whining as I pull the crinkled and smudged mess we call a map out of my bag. I also stole a glance at the food I had as I did, since my stomach didn't want me to forget to stuff something into my face before going to sleep. Disappointed with the lack of food I turned my attention back to the map. Straightening it out the best I could without tearing it. I looked it over, trying to see if there were any good places that the guys would stake out at. It had only been two days since we were separated from the group, but I didn't want that to be longer than it should. I know that I'm not alone, but... I feel safer when more people are around. More eyes to look for incoming danger and to help protect each other... It's definitely better than being by yourself. Scared out of your mind and wondering if your family and friends are okay. Living in pure paranoia and countless nights of no sleep and slowly losing your mind. Before I became too lost in that thought I looked over at Mini, who was digging through his own bag for something. I was so unbelievably happy when I found him. I almost couldn't believe it. After months of searching and pretty much giving up, I found him. Then that happiness was crushed immediately by what Craig had to tell me. Just when I thought that I found everything I wanted... I should have realized something was wrong when he wasn't standing by Craig's side. Even before the zombie outbreak he would never leave either of our sides for too long and he would've stuck to Mini like glue if he were still alive... Ivan... Running that name through my head hurt my heart and it seemed to make my body heavy with grief. My last memory of him was him screaming out for me before we got separated in that panicking crowd. People kept pushing me further and further away from him. Even though at the time I knew he was with Evan and Mini and that he was safe I still wanted to be there. No one knew what was happening and I was scared. His voice eventually got drowned out and I never saw him again...

"Tyler!" I jolted up and I looked at Mini. He sighed in relief, "You did it again." I blinked a couple times, recollecting my thoughts, "Sorry." I mumbled. He settled down next to me, "I hate it when you do that." I looked back at the map, "I know." As I followed the road with a finger I noticed that my arm was shaking, so I crossed my arms and followed the roads with my eyes. "Were you thinking..." Mini started then stopped. I noticed him shift out of the corner of my eye. "Um... Hungry?" I looked up to see that Mini was holding two cans of baked beans. My stomach answered for me making Craig chuckle, "I'll get these started then." He then pulled out a can opener from his bag and opened the cans then made a crappy grill rack with some banged up metal that was laying around and some small concrete chunks so it wouldn't have to sit right on the fire. While the beans warmed up he sat down next to me and looked over the map. He pointed at a few spots that the guys could have bunkered down at. I agreed with him, but it came down to a lot options to search. A little too much for my liking. "It'll take weeks to search that many places. We need to narrow them down." Mini hummed, "I guess your right... Sooo, we've got to think like Ev and Brock would. They most likely decided were they were going." I nodded as Mini checked the cans. "Ow!"

"Yes, dumbass. The cans are hot."

"Shut the fuck up."

****

    Leaves crunched under our feet as we ran through the forest. Panting heavily as the monstrous sounds behind us grew quieter. My bad leg felt like it was about to give out with every step. I whimpered as I pushed myself forward, but my leg decided that enough was enough. I landed hard, the twigs scratching me up as I skidded against the ground. Tyler slightly tripped to a stop, "Craig?!" He knelt down next to me, "Are you alright?" I nodded as I pushed myself up, "Yeah, it's just my leg." He looked up, probable checking how close the zombies were, before looking back at me, "Okay, let me help." He pulled me up and he allowed me to use him as a crutch. Though, he was on the wrong side to make it easier on me, "Tyler, wouldn't it be better if you supported me on the side that needs to be supported?" It seemed like I caught him off guard since he gives me a blank stare, "Huh?" I rolled my eyes, "Other side." He understands this time and swaps to the other side, "Sorry," He glanced back, "I was trying to hurry. I don't like that I can still hear them. Let's go." I nodded and we continued through the forest my arm over his shoulders and his arm around my waist. I looked up at his face. His eyes were locked forward with focus and fear. I leaned my head onto his shoulder, "We're going to be okay." I softly said. He didn't say anything and kept moving forward. I can only assume that he was still frazzled from being jumped in that store. On the way to the location that we thought that the guys could be at we found a store that we figured that we try to loot. We were running low on food and shouldn't pass up a good opportunity when it's presented. Unfortunately, Tyler got jumped by a zombie that was hidden amongst the junk. Then shit quickly went down hill from there and we were chased into the forest. Now the sun was starting to set and we have no shelter... I felt a sense of dread overcome me at the thought. I was use to being with a fairly large group of people. If we got stuck without shelter it wasn't the end, we had enough people to take watch and everyone get enough rest for the night. This'll be the first time that I won't have that. I looked back at Tyler as I remembered that he said that he was alone the entire time before finding us... I could only imagine what that was like... And it now makes me want to find the others as soon as possible.

     Little flames started dancing in the pathetic pile of wood I made. Quickly spreading to the leaves and slowly attacking the wood. I looked over a Tyler, who had sat next to the large tree closest to the fire. I was about to ask what he grabbed at the little store only to notice his stare. While his body was here he wasn't currently present. His conscious had wondered to the back of his mind and left his body frozen in place. I sighed as I moved closer to him and began to pick the leaves out of his hair. Sometimes it seemed useless to try and get him out of this state, but I still give an attempt each time. "Tyler?" I patted his cheek, "Tyler?" Not even a twitch. I usually would try a little harder, but I was feeling too exhausted to do more. Plus these moments never lasted too long. I took a seat next to him and leaned against him. Wrapping my arms around his arm and resting my head against his shoulder. I tensed up as I felt something wet on his arm. I backed away and looked down at my shirt. A red splotch had formed on my chest. Blood. I looked back at Tyler's arm to see a few little streams of blood running down his arm. Moving his sleeve revealed where it was coming from... My blood ran cold. The flesh was torn away, leaving a bloody crater behind, and I could see the teeth marks from the thing that did it. Without really thinking I grabbed what was left of the gauze in my bag and wrapped up the wound. I was just about to finish when a hand grabbed my wrist. "Mini... Stop. Don't waste it." I continued to wrap up the wound, "I'm not." Tyler pushed my hand away, "Yes you are." He then placed his hand right over the bite, avoiding making eye contact with me. I slump back against the tree. The fact that I was going to lose Tyler again quickly sinking in and this time... He's not coming back. Tears began to well up in my eyes, "I... I can't lose you too." He said nothing and looked out into the dark forest. I sniffled as I quickly dug out the photo, "From the start I wanted all three of us to stick together- even though I had no fucking idea what the hell was going on. That's all I wanted." Tyler slowly turned his head towards me, "Craig, you don't-" I interrupted, "You deserve to know what happened! You... You should know." My heart grew heavy as the words started to pour out, "I was scared when you got separated from us. Ivan was constantly asking where you were and I told him that you'd be okay, but I was so scared because I didn't know if you were. All the people pushing and causing chaos didn't help. I was so lost and confused and I didn't know what to do! I took his hand and pulled him through the crowd, following Evan. Then everyone started screaming and running and shoving and panicking! Before I even knew what was happening Ivan got torn away from me! Just swept away! I got knocked down and people trampled over me to get away and I lost him. Through the craziness Evan was somehow able to find me and we went looking for Ivan." My voice got caught in my throat as I tried to say the next part, "Then... We heard him screaming... He was screaming for help and me and Evan ran as fast as we could... But... We were... The zombies were... And all I did was stand there... Petrified by what I was seeing... My body froze... We swore... We swore that we'd protect him. Signed the papers and swore to protect him like he was of our blood and what did I do?!" The last sentence was said with a building fury and guilt. A built up hatred towards myself. I stood up and began to pace as Tyler watched in silence, "I just stood there! Scared out of my fucking mind while those bastards ate our son!" I screamed out, not caring for who or what could hear. "If it wasn't for Evan I would have been dead too! But he might as well as left me there! I- I..." I collapsed back against the tree, my body shaking from being caught between rage and sorrow. Arms wrapped around me and Tyler still said nothing. At that moment I wished that he'd say something... Anything. "I want everything to go back to how it used to be!" He began to rub my back. "When Ivan played basketball with you even though he was so tiny!" Ran his hand through my hair. "When we spent nights binge watching movies or helping him with his homework!" His arms wrapped tighter and the dam finally broke. Tears poured out as I sobbed into Tyler's shoulder. "I love you Tyler... Please don't leave me."

****

     Dead leaves covered the forest floor as we trudged through. Glancing back I could still see our group's fire. We had gone far into the forest, so I'm glad that we can still see it. Already lost a few of our group and I don't want to lose the rest of them just because we got lost in a forest looking for some screams. While I'm for saving whomever we can, judging by the scream... There's not gonna be anyone left to save, but Brock wanted us to check anyway because you never know. Which is true, you never know. I still have my doubts, though. I felt a thump on my shoulder, "Hey," Brock held up a finger and I looked towards were he was pointing, "A fire." A small one. So it must've been one person, possibly two, who made it. Both of us pulled up our health mask and readied our weapons before closing in on the fire. As we got closer we heard the sickening sounds that confirmed my suspicion. The ghastly groaning along with the disgusting smacking with the fleshy ripping, and tearing. It made me ill just listening to it. I looked over to Brock and signaled for him to draw his gun. I feel safer if one of us is ready to shoot. We try to stick to melee and save what little ammo we got, but sometimes the guns need to be used. Since I don't have the gun I go first with Brock following closely behind. We took a few steps and stopped as we witnessed the gruesome scene in front of us. "No." The word slowly tumbled out of my mouth as I recognized the body that lay against the tree closest to the fire. Dead eyes wide with terror as the zombie continued to dig out his intestines and stomach out. Blood splashing against the forest floor and soaking the zombie's clothes. The zombie I also recognized. "Tyler?" Brock questioned out loud. Loud enough to where the turned Tyler looked at us. His eyes had turned a milky white from the infection coursing through his veins. Teeth dyed red and bits of flesh hanging out of his mouth. He let out an unnatural screech as he got up and charged towards us, trampling over what was left of the fire. Brock instinctively raised his gun up, but I pushed it away and quickly struck. The knife making a thunk sound as it sunk into Tyler's skull. His body immediately went limp and I grunted as the tall body crashed into me. Brock quickly acted and helped ease Tyler's body to the ground. I drew the knife out of Tyler's forehead as Brock gave me a scared look. "It's not the first time I had to kill a friend." I softly said. I knew it wouldn't calm him down, but at least he should understand why I didn't hesitate. I turned my attention to the bloody corpse against the tree, approaching then kneeling next to it, "I'm sorry Mini." Brock followed behind me and bowed his head in a quite lament. Mini's blood painted the base of the tree and left the ground around the roots saturated. Looking at his knife holster I see that his weapon was untouched. He didn't even attempt to fight back, I deduced. Then I noticed his balled up hand. Something was in his fist and out of curiosity I opened up his hand and grabbed the soggy and crumpled wad of paper in his hand. Uncrumpling it revealed three faces, two belonging to the two corpses next to us and the third belonging to someone who use to call me 'Uncle Evan.' "What is it?" Brock asked. I sighed, "It's nothing," I put the bloody photo back into Mini's hand, "Something he always carried around." Brock looked at the photo, "Oh." I grabbed my knife and quickly struck Craig in the head. Didn't want him to come back while we're sitting right here. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Brock winced. I whipped the blood off my knife with my shirt, "Come on. Let's get back before it gets darker."

"But what about them? We're not going to bury them?"

"We will, but I don't want to be out here when it's pitch black." Brock hesitantly nodded before standing up. I glanced down at the photo again before standing up and heading back to camp.

The crumpled and bloody photo of a destroyed family.


End file.
